Customer Reviews

Meade 90 Az-Adr 90mm A-Series Alt-Azimuth Refractor Telescope

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Based on its price, I wasn't expecting too much from this scope. I was pleasantly surprised how well it works. Assembly was a breeze, and took about 15 minutes. The telescope itself is mostly metal, and well built for a scope in this price range. The alt-azimuth mount is mediocre but acceptable in this price range. The tri-pod is very basic, lightweight aluminum, with an accessory tray. It does the job barring any high winds. On a good night, it's steady enough to use the 9mm 100x eyepiece without any shake, but it can be shaky when focusing at high magnification. The red-dot viewfinder works well once it's colliminated. The performance of the scope is excellent for a 90mm scope. My first test was viewing the moon with the 25mm, 36x eyepiece. The view was spectacular. I was surprised by the performance of the stock eyepiece. My next test was viewing Saturn with the 25mm eyepiece. Again, the image was very clear. Saturn and its rings easily came into focus. I then switched to the 9mm eyepiece. Saturn and its rings looked awesome. It was bright and clear. I was able to track it fairly easily and well. All in all, I'm very happy with this scope. With the money I saved, I plan on buying some different eyepieces, and a 2x Barlow lens. I highly recommend this scope for a beginner-intermediate astronomer, that doesn't want to spend a fortune on a scope.

Update 07/09:
Since purchasing the telescope, I've bought a Celestron 8mmm-24mm Zoom eyepiece, Celestron 2x Barlow Lens, moon filter, and a Zhumell Z Series 6mm eyepiece. I highly recommend the moon filter, Zoom, and 6mm eyepiece. 6mm provides 150x magnification, and is about as high as you can realistically go with this scope.
I also had a problem with plastic diagonal mirror that came with the scope. Meade sent me a new metal one quickly, at no cost.

I took a chance on ordering this because it is actually a refractor telescope, (not what is pictured) which is what I was looking for. I was hoping they shipped by the part number 90AZ-ADR, which was the part number of the telescope I wanted. I did get the one I wanted and am very pleased. It is very heavy duty. A little bigger than I expected. Mostly all metal, very little plastic. It is well worth the price. We used it to look at the lunar eclipse and it worked well. We have also used it to watch the deer in the field near our house.

My family love this telescope. The day we receive, we were able to explore moon. I saw just picture of it but now I can see how actually moon looks in detail. I hope my pleasant journey will continue for other planets...

Good:
- Price (around 150)
- Easy setup (in 30 minutes)
- Great view - practically zero learning curve
- Stable tripod

Bad:)
- Cheap plastic material for few peaces

I purchased this scope for my 10 year old as a birthday present. I was a little concerned at first, out of the big three scope makers Meade is the only one that ventures down into the "toy" telescope market. This much aperture at this price point had me worried.

However, when I received it I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the core pieces. The tube is metal and appears to be fine quality. The internal focuser is plastic but not flimsy. The optics are good, but with quite a bit of false color. That is to be expected for an achromat refractor at this price though. The tripod is fairly sturdy and the mount is solid enough. It excels at slow motion tracking, the knobs work considerably better than my celestron alt/az tracking knobs.

Now for the bad. The finder scope is trash, it jiggles easily and loses collimation every time you setup the scope. An adequate replacement finder can be found for around $30 or more. Secondly, the diagonal is flimsy and cheap. I would recommend a replacement within a few weeks, but definitely get a better finder first. Lastly, throw away the tube sleeve as soon as you open the box. Instead, install a nice set of tube rings on an 8" dovetail. If you don't, even the slightest gust of wind will send the objects your viewing bouncing all over the eyepiece.

An additional investment of $100 on these items will turn this into a fine telescope, still well below the price of similar refractors this size from the other two makers, and much better than any "department store" telescope.

Clear skies!

It is a good starter telescope, but I would like to add one comment on the size. The focal length of the lens is 900 mm (3 ft), so the telescope body is actually longer than what it looks on the picture shown in this page. I think Meade deliberately used this picture to make it look more compact. Even on the container box of the telescope they used a false picture (I am sure they used a Photoshop or something to edit the actual photo to shorten the telescope body). With a lens of 900-mm focal length, the body cannot be this short! So beware if the size is another big concern to you.

Also the list price is $199, not $299, another false information!

Update on 7/2/11: I have used this telescope to observe Jupiter with its satellites and Saturn with its ring. Very good experience! The images are rather tiny, but it is definitely different from other more remote celestial objects. The tripod is sturdy and optics is decent, but alt-azimuth type mount requires constant adjustments of both knobs (horizontal and vertical) to follow the object as the sky rotates (or Earth rotates). With higher magnification, you have to adjust more frequently, which is cumbersome sometimes.

Overall, I am satisfied with the purchase, but again this is a starter scope. If you are serious in pursuing amateur astronomy, I would suggest higher-price telescope with equatorial mount.

Other comments: Consider buying a 2x Barlow lens. Your image will definitely be more enjoyable with a 2x larger magnification.

This was easy to assemble and easy to use. The quality seems quite sturdy and professionally made. A real scientific instrument, at a reasonable price for the beginner astronomer in your home.

I haven't had a chance yet to get out and really enjoy this telescope. I have used it a little and think it will do what I was looking for. It is well build and for the money can't be beat.

Somehow Amazon has managed to put a title referring to a Reflector Telescope, a picture of an enormous Meade reflector but coupled it with nonsensical data such as a completely incorrect weight and details pertaining to what seems to be a 90 mm REFRACTOR. Might be a good idea to double check and/or proofread your item descriptions, Amazon. Jeez.